Surgical gown having a fluid guiding channel

ABSTRACT

A surgical gown includes a body containing a front portion having a first bottom periphery and a back portion extending from each of lateral sides of the front portion and having a second bottom periphery extending from two ends of the first bottom periphery; two sleeves secured to two upper sides of the body respectively; a neck opening defined by upper edges of the body; and an upturned flap extending upwardly from the first bottom periphery of the front portion and at least a portion of the second bottom periphery of the back portion, and affixed to the body at plural points along an upper periphery of the upturned flap such that the upturned flap forms an exterior guiding channel.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a surgical gown, in particular to a surgical gown with a fluid guiding channel to be worn by medical personnel during surgical operations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that surgical gowns are used for preventing blood or other tissue liquids containing bacteria from splashing to medical personnel, which will cause cross-inflection between the medical personnel and the patients. Accordingly, conventional surgical gowns are designed to reduce the strike-through of body liquids including blood to eliminate the need for repeated laundering and sterilization. However, blood or other tissue liquids containing bacteria has a tendency to run down the outer surfaces of the surgical gowns, frequently wetting the shoes, grounds and unprotected lower portions of the wearer's clothes such as the wearer's trousers, which causes inconvenience to the cleaners of the operation rooms and may cause contaminations to the medical personnel.

Therefore, there exists a need for surgical gowns that are capable of catching body fluids and minimizing the tendency of the body fluids to run off surfaces of the surgical gowns.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a surgical gown with a fluid guiding channel that is capable of catching body fluids. The other object of the present invention includes to provide a surgical gown with a fluid guiding channel that is capable of guiding the caught body fluids to a back of the wearer to prevent cross-infection.

The present invention in one embodiment relates to a surgical gown. The surgical gown mainly contains a body, two sleeves, a neck opening, and an upturned flap. The body contains a front portion having a first bottom periphery and a back portion extends from each of lateral sides of the front portion. The back portion has a second bottom periphery extending from two ends of the first bottom periphery. The two sleeves are secured to two upper sides of the body respectively. The neck opening is defined by upper edges of the body. The upturned flap extends upwardly from the first bottom periphery of the front portion and at least a portion of the second bottom periphery of the back portion, and is affixed to the body at plural points along an upper periphery of the upturned flap such that the upturned flap forms an exterior guiding channel. The present invention in another embodiment relates to a method of manufacturing a surgical gown. The method contains the steps of: providing a body containing a front portion having a first bottom periphery, a back portion extending from each of lateral sides of the front portion and having a second bottom periphery extending from two ends of the first bottom periphery; providing a flap extending from the first bottom periphery of the front portion and at least a portion of the second bottom periphery of the back portion; securing two sleeves to the body at its two upper sides respectively; forming a neck opening at upper edges of the body; upturning the flap; and affixing the flap to the body at plural points along an upper periphery of the flap such that the flap forms an exterior guiding channel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from ensuing descriptions of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of a surgical gown in accordance with the present invention wherein a flap extends from a bottom of the surgical gown;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment wherein the flap is upturned;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the embodiment wherein the flap is affixed to an outer front surface of the body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective front view of the embodiment being worn by a surgical personal;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along Line A-A in FIG. 4 and showing the exterior guiding channel for collecting and guiding body fluid;

FIG. 6 is a perspective back view of the embodiment being worn by a surgical personal wherein the back of the surgical gown is opened; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective back view of another embodiment in accordance with the present invention that is worn by a surgical personal wherein the back of the surgical gown is closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 3-6, the surgical gown in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention is made of fluid repellent multi-layer non-woven fabrics and mainly contains a body 10, two sleeves 20, a neck opening 30, and an upturned flap 40. The body 10 contains a front portion 11 having a first bottom periphery 11 a and a back portion 12 extending from each of lateral sides of the front portion 11 a. The back portion 12 has a second bottom periphery 12 a extending from two ends of the first bottom periphery 11 a. In the current embodiment, the back portion 12 includes two panels having two ties 60 attached thereto for conformably securing the surgical gown around the body of a wearer. Therefore, the front portion 11 is closed and the back portion 12 is opened. It should be understood that the surgical gown can be worn such that the two panels of the back (opened) portion 12 open and close about the wearer's back and the front (closed) portion is located about the wearer's chest.

The two sleeves 20 are secured to two upper sides of the body 10 respectively and two elastic cuffs 50 are secured to ends of the two sleeves 20 respectively. The neck opening 30 is defined by upper edges of the body 10 to fit a wearer's neck. The upturned flap 40 extends upwardly from the first bottom periphery 11 a of the front portion 11 and a portion of the second bottom periphery 12 a of the back portion 12, and is affixed to the body 10 at plural points 42 along an upper periphery 40 a of the upturned flap 40 such that the upturned flap 40 forms an exterior guiding channel 70. The upper periphery 40 a of the upturned flap 40 is in a shape of arc. In some other embodiments, the upturned flap 40 may extend from full length of the first bottom periphery 11 a of the front portion 11 and the second bottom periphery 12 a of the back portion 12.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a cross sectional view of section A-A of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 shows the exterior guiding channel 70 formed by upturning and affixing the flap 40 to the body 10 at plural points 42 along an upper periphery 40 a of the flap 40. Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 6, the exterior guiding channel 70 serves to collect and divert the collected and accumulated body fluid (B) such as blood to a back of the surgical gown (shown by arrows).

In a preferred embodiment, a flap height between 2.5 to 3 inches is contemplated. It has been determined that a flap height between the aforementioned dimensions is sufficiently stiff to form and maintain a channel for the collection of body fluids. Nevertheless, other flap dimension may work as well. In a preferred embodiment, the flap 40 is affixed to the body 10 at plural points 42 and the distance between the adjacent affixing points 42 is preferably between 8.5 to 9 inches. In fact, the number of the affixing points 42 and the distance between the adjacent affixing points 42 depend on the stiffness of the material used to construct the body 10.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, the front portion 11 and the back portion 12 of the body 10 are both closed such as shown in FIG. 7, the surgical grown of the second embodiment is a single unitary piece of continuous cloth with other structures same as those of the first embodiment. In a third embodiment of the present invention (not shown), the first bottom periphery of the front portion and the second bottom periphery of the back portion together are in an upward arc shape so that two ends of the exterior guiding channel are lower than a middle portion thereof and thereby, the collected body fluids have a tendency to be guided to the two lower ends. The other structures of the third embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, which show a method of manufacturing a surgical gown containing the steps of: (i) providing a body 10 containing a front portion 11 having a first bottom periphery 11 a, a back portion 12 extending from each of lateral sides of the front portion 11 and having a second bottom periphery 12 a extending from two ends of the first bottom periphery 11 a (see FIG. 1); (ii) providing a flap 40 extending from the first bottom periphery 11 a of the front portion 11 and a portion of the second bottom periphery 12 a of the back portion 12 (see FIG. 1); (iii) securing two sleeves 20 to the body 10 at its two upper sides respectively (see FIG. 1); (iv) forming a neck opening 30 at upper edges of the body 10 (see FIG. 1); (v) upturning the flap 40 (see FIG. 2); and (vi) thermal bonding the flap to the body 10 by ultrasonic waves at plural points 42 along an upper periphery 40 a of the flap 40 such that the flap 40 forms an exterior guiding channel 70 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

The invention may also be implemented in other specific modes without departing from the spirit and the essence of the invention. For example, the bonding of the flap to the body can be performed by adhesive, or any other methods. Thus, the above-mentioned embodiments shall be regarded as explanatory but not restrictive. All changes consistent with the meaning and range of the claims and the equivalents shall fall within the scope claimed by the invention. 

1. A surgical gown, comprising: a body comprising a front portion having a first bottom periphery and a back portion extending from each of lateral sides of the front portion, the back portion having a second bottom periphery extending from two ends of said first bottom periphery; two sleeves secured to two upper sides of said body respectively; a neck opening defined by upper edges of said body; and an upturned flap extending upwardly from said first bottom periphery of said front portion and at least a portion of said second bottom periphery of said back portion, and affixed to said body at plural points along an upper periphery of said upturned flap such that said upturned flap forms an exterior guiding channel.
 2. The surgical gown of claim 1, wherein said surgical gown is made of fluid repellent non-woven fabrics.
 3. The surgical gown of claim 2, wherein said upper periphery of said upturned flap is in a shape of upward arc.
 4. The surgical gown of claim 3, wherein said exterior guiding channel has two ends, which are lower than a middle portion thereof.
 5. The surgical gown of claim 1, wherein said first bottom periphery of said front portion and said second bottom periphery of said back portion together are in an upward arc shape.
 6. The surgical gown of claim 1, wherein said front portion is closed and said back portion is opened.
 7. The surgical gown of claim 1, wherein said back portion of said body further comprises two ties for conformably securing said surgical gown around the body of a wearer.
 8. The surgical gown of claim 7, further comprising two elastic cuffs secured to ends of said two sleeves respectively.
 9. The surgical gown of claim 1, wherein said front portion and said back portion are both closed.
 10. A method of manufacturing a surgical gown, comprising the steps of: providing a body comprising a front portion having a first bottom periphery, a back portion extending from each of lateral sides of the front portion and having a second bottom periphery extending from two ends of said first bottom periphery; providing a flap extending from said first bottom periphery of said front portion and at least a portion of said second bottom periphery of said back portion; securing two sleeves to said body at its two upper sides respectively; forming a neck opening at upper edges of said body; upturning said flap; and affixing said flap to said body at plural points along an upper periphery of said flap such that said flap forms an exterior guiding channel.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of affixing is made by thermal bonding said flap to said surgical gown by ultrasonic waves. 